The trial for a Fairfield man charged with the 1996 death of his live-in girlfriend continued on Wednesday with a lengthy videotaped interview with the suspect played for jurors.

Murder suspect Lonnie J. Kerley told police that his live-in girlfriend, Danna L. Dever, walked out on him and their daughter following an argument in the early morning hours of June 14, 1996, with nothing but her purse and the clothes on her back, not to be heard from again, according to testimony.

The mystery of her whereabouts came to an end in 2007, when Fairfield police detectives reopened the missing person case and matched a thumbprint from Dever's DMV record to that of a previously unidentified set of female remains found on July 8, 1996, in a rural area near Highway 113 and Flannery Road.

She was 32 years old.

Kerley, 52, was indicted last year by a Solano County criminal grand jury charging one count of second-degree murder in connection with Dever's death and has been the focus of a monthlong jury trial.

On Wednesday, interviews were played for the jury showing Kerley speaking to investigators at the Fairfield Police Department on May 15, 2007, when the death notification was made.

Investigators asked Kerley why he waited so long to report Dever missing.

According to prior testimony, Kerley reported Dever missing on Aug. 5, 1996, nearly two months after she reportedly walked out on him and their young daughter.

"If she didn't want to be a part of our life, there was nothing I could do about it," Kerley told investigators during the recorded interview.

He also said he was fed up with playing detective and looking for her, as he had done in the past.

Kerley's defense counsel has repeatedly sought to evoke testimony from witnesses regarding Dever's suspected methamphetamine use, raising the notion that it was to blame for her disappearance and death.

On Wednesday, prosecutors also called the couple's daughter, Mandee, to testify.

Appearing with an attorney, Mandee indicated that she intended to exercise her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Expecting this, prosecutors provided documentation to Solano County Superior Court Judge Allan P. Carter to offer her immunity in exchange for her testimony.

Carter granted the petition and Mandee answered a few routine questions from Deputy District Attorney Julie Underwood before the jury was recessed for the day.

The trial is set to resume at 9 a.m. on Nov. 26 in Carter's Vallejo courtroom. Kerley has pleaded not guilty and remains in Solano County Jail custody.